Needle and shuttle operating mechanism for sewing-machines.



B. .0RAIGE. NEEDLE AND SHUTTLE OPERATING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MAGHINES APPLICATION FILED SEPT, 29. 1903.

Patented Sept. 7, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. H. CRAIGE. NEEDLE AND SHUTTLE OPERATING MECHANISM FOR. SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.29, 1908. v

Patented Sept. 7, 1909.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. EDWARD H. o mrcnai,,0}? new Yon K, iv. Y.-

NEEDLE'AND SHUTTLE OPERATING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD H; 'GR IGE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York, in the county of New ,York and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Needle and Shuttle Operating Mechanism for Sewing-Macl'iines, of which the" following is a specificatiom This invention relates to improvements in sewing machines, and the principal objects of the invention are to simplify the driving mechanism and increase the speed thereof, to reduce the friction and vibration of the moving parts to the minimum, to increase the penetrating power of the needle, and to reduce the movement of the needle when it is down and thereby allowa longer time for the looper to enter the loop formed by the needle. I accomplish these results by interposing between each driven member or;

element and the member by which it is operated a crank connection of simple construction by means of which a rotary movement may be converted directly into a reciprocatory one, or vice versa, without the use of any other power-transmitting elements. The crank connection which I prefer to employ consists of two principal crank elements connected by a universal joint of such construction that an extensible connection is provided between said crank elements, that is, a connection which will permit the cranks to have a determined play or movement relative to each other while operating to convert rotary motion to reciprocatory or vice versa. This universal joint is usually a ball-and-socket joint in which the ball works in. an-elongated socket and moves in and out in" sa-id socket as its angu-g lar position varies in moving in its. orbit whereby an extensible connection between the two crank members is provided. By means of such a connection as this rotary may be converted into reciprocating movement, or vice versa, by a pure crank action, i. e., by a uniformly-continuous motion of the rotary-reciprocating type, which will cause the parts to run smoothly and noiselessly and will assure a more perfect coiiperation of the complementary stitch-forming elements of the mechanism than has'heretofore beenhad.

One of the principal features of my in vention is the provision of a needle-operat ing mechanism by means of which the usual Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 29, 1903.

Patented Sept. 7, 1909.

Serial No. 175,012.

cycle of movements of the needle may be so varied as to increase the length of time that the needle is down, and correspondingly increase the time allowed for the looper to enter the loop formed by the needle, these re su'ltsbeing attained by connecting the needle-bar directly to the upper rotary shaft of the machine by means of a crank connection of the type hereinbefore described. By the use of such an operating device the time that the needle is down is greatly increased as compared with the usual cycle, principally because of the slowness of the descent of the needle toward, and its ascent from, the lowermost position, as compared with its move ment when operated by the ordinary link connection.

Another important feature of my invention is the provision of means for turning the needle as it descends into and through the goods, particularly in sewing heavy and stiff goods. Ihave found that the needle penetrates more easily and surely if a twist is given to it asit enters the goods and a reverse twist as it leaves the same. These two movements are performed most advantageously by a crank connection of the type described, and the crank members may be so placed as to give the best results by oscillating the needle-bar in one direction in the lower part of its cycle and in the other direction in the upper part of such cycle.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a sewing-machine movement embodying my invention, the machine-frame being lndlcated 1n outline. Fig.

2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation'of the same. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of one of the two main elements of the crank connection. Fig. 5 is a sec tional detail of one of said crank connections, illustrating the advance of one of the crank members toward, and its withdrawal from, the other.

Similar characters designate like parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

1 may apply my present invention to any type of sewing-machine, and have illustrated it in connection with a well-known style of sewing-machine head, which is shown in outline in order that the new machine movementimay appear more clearly. In these views I have shownthe usual upper and lower shafts, 2 and 3, theformer ofwhich is in this case the driving shaft andcarries the driving band-wheel or pulley 4, although the power required to operate the machine may be applied elsewhere. Theupper shaft is that from which the needle-bar is ordinarily driven, and these two shafts are connected 7 by a member which will convert the rotary movement of one shaft into reciprocating movement and re-convert it again directly into rotary movement. This connecting member is in this construction a verticallyreciprocatory shaft 5, mounted in suitable bearings and joined directly to said shafts 2 and 3 by crank connections of the type before indicated. These two crank connections are similar in all respects, and a description of one will sufiice for both. The band-wheel l, which here constitutes a crank-disk, has in one face thereof a ballsocket, which differs from ball-sockets of the ordinary type in that it is elongated. This socket is designated by 6. In this socket the ball end 7 of the complementary crank member works, said complementary member being in this construction a two-part crankpin 8, the two parts of which are adjustably connected and held in any desired adjusted position by a screw 9. At the opposite end thereof this crank-pin also preferably has a ball end 10, bored to receive the connecting-rod or shaft 5, and also transversely bored and threaded for the reception of a set-screw 11, by means of which the crank-pin is rigidly secured .to the rod 5.

As shown in Fig. 5, the rotary motion of one of the members is converted into a reciprocating motion of the other member 8, and this reciprocating movement of the crank member 8 is imparted directly to the connecting member or shaft 5 as a rectilinear reciprocating movement in a vertical direction. The crank member 8 also has an incidental oscillatory movement, because of the necessity it is under of traversing the diameter of the crank-disk 4 by which it is operated, and when the member 8 is rigidly connected to the shaft 5, as in this case, said shaft also has a movement of oscillation, about its longitudinal axis. At its upper end the shaft 5 is connected to the upper rotary shaft 3 by a crank-pin 8 and a crank 4, similar to the corresponding parts just described, but the function of the connection 84L is to convert reciprocating into rotary motion and to rotate the shaft 3 directly. At 8 and l I have illustrated another similar crank connection for the purpose of operating the needle-bar, which may be of the type shown at 15. This needle-bar will be mounted substantially in the usual manner, except that, preferably, it will be free to turn, or oscillate, in vertical bearings 011 the head of the machine, in order to impart a turning or twisting movement to the.

needle as the needleenters the goods to be sewed. The incidental oscillating movement consequent to the conversion of motion in the construction illustrated is thus used advantageously in the connection between the upper shaft and the needle-bar and has an important function, effecting the proper 'turning of the needle and the needle-bar without the use of any additional mechanism for such purpose. By employing a crank connection of this kind for operating the needle-bar, the needle 20 is caused to cooperate with the looper .21, carried by the lower shaft, or looper-shaft, 2, in an entirely different manner, and the cycle of movements of the needle is so changed that the needle is at or near its lowermost position relatively long time as compared with the time it would remain at or near such point if it were operated by the usual link motion. Thus, by the use of cdmparatively simple crank connections, not only is the character of the sewing-machine movement as a whole altered, but the relation between the movements of the needle and the looper with which the needle cooperates is also changed and a more perfect coaction of these parts assured.

What I claim is:

1. In a sewing machine, the combination with .a rotary shaft, of a reciprocatory needle-bar, and a pair of cranks rigidly secured respectively to said members, the end of one of said cranks directly engaging the other and having a universal joint connection therewith whereby a reciprocatory and oscillatory movement is imparted to the needle-bar.

2. In a sewing machine, the combination with a rotary shaft, of a reeiprocatory needle-bar, and a pair of cranks rigidly secured respectively to said members and having a sliding and universal oint connection with each other whereby a reciprocatory and oscillatory movement is imparted to the needle-bar.

3. In a sewing machine, the combination with a rotary shaft, of a reciprocatory needle-bar, and a pair of cranks rigidly secured respectively to said members and having a sliding connection and also a ball-andsocket connection with each other, whereby a reeiprocatory and oscillatory movement is imparted to the needle-bar.

4. In a sewing machine, the combination with a rotary shaft, of a reciprocatory needle-bar, and a pair of cranks rigidly secured respectively to said members, one of said cranks having an elongated socket and the other crank having a part thereof slid ably seated in said socket to form a sliding and universal joint connection between the cranks whereby a reciprocatory and oscillatory movement is imparted to the needle bar.

5. In a sewing machine, the combination with a rotary shaft, of a reciprocatory needle-bar, and a pair of cranks rigidly secured respectively to said members and having a universal connection with each other one of said cranks being adjustable in length.

6. In a sewing machine, the combination with a rotary shaft, of a reciprocatory needle-bar, a crank-disk carried by said shaft and having an elongated ball-socket, and a crank-pin fixedly secured to said needle-bar and having a ball end forming with said socket a sliding ball-and-socket joint.

7. In a sewing machine, the combination with a rotary shaft, of a longitudinally reciprocatory and transversely oscillatory needle-bar, and an adjustable crank connection between said members embodying a universal joint.

8. In a sewing, machine, the combination with a rotary shaft, of a longitudinally reciprocatory and transversely oscillatory needle-bar, and a pair of cranks rigidly secured respectively to said members and having a universal engagement with each other, the axes of said cranks lying in the same plane and intersecting each other substantially at right angles.

9. In a sewing machine, the combination with a pair of rotary shafts, and with complementary stitchforming elements controlled by said shafts, of a single rigid reciprocatory connecting member, and two pairs of cranks joining the opposite end portions of said connecting member and said shafts the cranks of each pair having a universal and sliding connection with each other.

10. In a sewing machine, the combination with a pair of parallel rotary shafts, and with complementary stitch forming elements controlled by said shafts, of a third shaft disposed transversely to the other two and reciprocatory in the direction of its axis and also oscillatory about said axis, and two pairs of cranks joining said shafts the cranks of each pair having a sliding connection with each other.

11. In a sewing machine, the combination with upper and lower shafts, of a pair of vertically-reciprocatory and horizontally-oscillatory elements one of which is a needlebar and the other of which is a member connecting said shafts, and a plurality of pairs of cranks joining said connecting member to said shafts and the upper shaft to said needle-bar the cranks of each pair being rigidly connected to the elements which they join and being connected to each other by a sliding ball-and-socket joint.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New of August A. D. 1908.

EDWARD H. GRAIGE.

York, this 10th day Witnesses:

CHAS. F. DANE, E. M. FAITH. 

